Transcript Liberalization_Authoritarianism China

Liberalization and
Authoritarianism
in Contemporary China
What Are the Facets of This
Complex Social Revolution?
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Decollectivization movement
Freedom of movement
Property rights movement
Economic entrepreneurialism
Information revolution (especially via the Internet)
A multifaceted sexual revolution
Religious movements
Vast, far-reaching international influences
Features Of Grassroots Liberalization Movements
With the exception of the religious movement, grassroots
resistance began as a spontaneous, unorganized, leaderless,
non-ideological, apolitical movement.
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Transgression: Although apolitical in appearance,
grassroots movements have profound political implications
and have fundamentally altered key elements of China’s
party-state regime and society at large.
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Personal liberties
Non-elite are the main actors
Linkage with professionals
(especially media and lawyers)
Mothers’ right to choose
Grassroots Decollectivization Movements
and Baochan Daohu
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1959-1961: The Great Leap Famine
1977-1982: Baochan daohu (contracting output to the
household)
Corruption helped to destroy the commune system.
“Please let me farm by myself,” Farmer Sun told local village
officials. “I will give you both the state and collective quotas.”
Baochan Daohu : A Kind of Bird Flu
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“When one family’s chicken catches the disease, the
whole village catches it. When one village has it, the
whole county will be infected.”
By 1982, more than 90% of rural people were
engaged in the household production system.
Powerful backing from top leaders helped to
institutionalize the decollectivization.
1979 onwards: The rise of the free market
Rural industrialization
Freedom of Movement
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150 million to 200 million migrants
Enhanced opportunities for social and commercial
interaction
The largest civil disobedience movement against castelike hukou system of household registration.
The rise of free labor market
Three Chinas: Urbanization,
markets, informal economy
Free Enterprise And Freedom Of Contract
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Entrepreneurship and market development
Corruption is still the price of freedom in China.
Diversified ownership structure reduces dependence on state
 30% state, 40% non-state, 25% private, 5% foreign
1993: 83% of “collective” firms were in fact private.
Conditions for the freedom of mobility, competitive printing,
and the rise of freelance journalists
The decline of danwei (urban work unit), the people’s
implicit social contract with the government
Private Property and the New Middle Class
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A new Chinese dream: 80% of Chinese people now
own their own homes.
The rise of new landlords
The Property Rights Movement
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In 2003, 1730 petitions filed against the state and
350,000 legal cases against forced eviction
Information Revolution
(1980 onwards)
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Underground publication and private printing houses
Informal publications
Pirated music tapes, CDs, and DVDs
Advertisements
Apolitical media content
Pluralism in publication
Strategies To Circumvent Censorship
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Buying and selling of ISBN numbers, which
constitute a governmental imprimatur.
“Yidibaodao ” reporters in one locality give
forbidden news to counterparts in a second locality.
Internet and cell phones
Decline of the Party Line in the Media
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Rise of subsidiary party newspapers (zibao)
Market-generated income has helped to detach media from
slavish adherence to the state.
Investigative reporting
Depoliticization of Chinese media: More than 2,000
newspapers, 8,000 magazines, 374 television stations, 250
million Internet users and 600 million cell phones.
Government Limits On Press Freedom
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New mixture of party
mouth-pieces and
commercial media
Censorship continues
The Internet police
Banning political blogs
30 journalists and 50
cyber-dissidents in prison
Despite these restrictions, the government can no
longer assert complete control over Chinese
people’s access to information.
Sexual liberation in China is linked to the rise of
cosmopolitan culture and plays a key role in the
demise of Chinese communist ideology.
Women’s Liberation and Sexual Liberty
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Today, more than 86% of Chinese have had
premarital sex.
Widespread extramarital living arrangements
The erna (mistress) issue
Mu Zimei, the so-called
Chinese Madonna,
posted online the detailed
notes of her sexual
encounters with 52 men.
Non-Traditional Sexual Activities
Open marriage clubs
 Temporary spouse-swapping
 The right to organize private activities
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Emergence of a Gay Identity in China
Gay bars, nightclubs, and private clubs
 Going mainstream
 Lesbian (or “la la”) bars
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Undermining the Communist State and
Old Traditions
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Attack on traditional marriage
Death of the puritanical
communism of Mao Zedong
Appropriated terms: touliang
huanzhu (steal the beams and
pillars and replace them with
rotten timber)
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For example, new meaning of
“comrade”
Religious Movement
Packed churches
 Underground
 Informal
 House churches
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Global Influences
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Global markets
Information, media, capital and technology
The cell phone, the MP3,
the Internet, and the television
Hong Kong/Taiwan
Foreign NGOs
Foreign Trade as a Percentage of Chinese GDP
Foreigners contribute more than 60% of China’s GDP
Popular Support for Liberalization
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66% of Chinese desire increased media freedom
71% believe that “people should have the right to
read whatever is on the Internet.”
92% support competition in the global economy
China is one of the leading nations of East Asia that
supports open markets, deregulation, and
globalization
How Critical Mass Is Formed
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Market development
Individualism/hedonistic consumers
The new middle class
More people work outside the state
Relative free access to information
Technology: Internet and cell phones
Global linkages
Two Chinas: The Rise of Parallel Societies
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By parallel societies, we mean two different social
realities —the state on the one hand and the
people (society) on the other:
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Two sources of information—state vs. non-state
Two separate economies—state vs. market
Two different mindsets—state vs. individuals
Grassroots movements have reshaped China’s
political realm
Limits of the Grassroots Liberalization Movement
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Institutionalization problems: rule of law is not upheld.
Politicized market economy: institutional certainty and
predictability remain underdeveloped, especially for domestic
entrepreneurs and the middle class.
Lack of unifying support across different movements
Limits of the Grassroots Liberalization Movement
Despite the widespread liberalization, hypernationalism
continues to prevail.
 2003 anti-American protests
 2005 anti-Japanese protests
 2008 anti-Tibet protest
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Many Chinese Regard Tibetans As Ungrateful
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Hostile rhetoric, nationwide demonstrations, and the silenced
voices of dissent are reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution.
Reexamine Chinese history: past diversity before Qin Dynasty.
Possible Scenarios for China’s Future:
#1 - The Rise of Chinese Fascism
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The rise of hypernationalism
Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong—traditional
Chinese imperialism
Possible Scenarios for China’s Future:
#2 - The Status Quo or
Internal Party Democratization?
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Resilient authoritarianism
Leninist party-state
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Meiji Japan, Bismarck’s Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and
Putin’s Russia as examples
Internal party democratization (Cheng Li)
Possible Scenarios for China’s Future:
#3 - Chinese Federalism
De facto economic federalism:
China’s size and economic
structure  widely differing
outcomes:
Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau
Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang
Embrace multicultural identities
Self-reflection and learning from
the past
Dalai Lama’s Prediction for the Future
“The ‘only future’ for China is democracy, the
rule of law, freedom of the press, religious
freedom, and the free flow of information.
China's future depends on these factors.”